The World Cup (Football) is on! And so is the craziness. There is football talk everywhere! We Bengalis are a crazy bunch - passionate about football, cricket, politics, food and almost every other thing under the sun! Our country doesn't play in the World Cup but we have our favorites - Argentina, Brazil, Germany, England and a few others. Those of us grew up in the 80's and 90's are mostly die-hard fans of Argentina or Brazil and there are some second favorites too, like Germany!

If we were in Kolkata the entire family would be watching World Cup leisurely over cups of steaming hot tea, a bowl of puffed rice and an assortment of fried goodies from the local vendor whenever the favorite teams would be playing. But here, during the weekdays we watch our favorite teams play in between office work or chores. Unless it is on the weekend. So I thought of making some fun munchables to snack on while watching the match!

These sticky treats a perfect combination of sweet with a hint of spice and a touch of saltiness! These are not as healthy as plain almonds would be but are a much more guilt-free snack compared to deep-fried stuff. One warning though - these honey glazed almonds are very addictive!!

Ingredients:

Almonds - 2 Cups, raw

Honey - 1/4 Cup

Ground Cinnamon - 1 tsp

Ground Ginger - 1/2 tsp

Brown Sugar - 1.5 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a cookie/baking sheet with parchment paper and keep aside.

Heat a pan on low and warm up the honey along with the ground cinnamon and ginger. Throw in the almonds and fold them in gently using a spatula till each one gets coated in the warm honey mix. Take the pan off the heat and sprinkle the brown sugar along with salt and toss to combine.

Spread the coated almonds on the cookie sheet in a single layer and bake for about 12 minutes till lightly roasted. If you want it toastier, bake for a few more minutes.

Take it out from the oven and sprinkle the remaining salt immediately!
Once it is cool enough to touch, pick the almonds out and store in an airtight container.

Note: You can try variations of this - add a dash of cayenne pepper if you prefer some heat or add 1/2 tbsp more of brown sugar if want it sweeter.